Collage as an art form has been around for a very long time, at least since 200BC in China, however, it had its renaissance in the early 20th century. However the digital tools we have today including scanners, digital cameras, software like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Elements we are seeing collage entering its second renaissance.

Creating a collage is really quite easy if you look at collage in its most basic form. Take one image and place it on another image at a smaller size and technically you have a collage. The art of collage is more complex, especially if you want to create pleasing ones A Quick Sample*. That is why if you really want to get in to collage and you want to create great collages I highly recommend the best book on the subject I have found and that is Digital Collage and Painting; Using Photoshop and Painter to Create Fine Art, by Susan Ruddick Bloom from Focal Press.

This massive book covers the art of digital collage and digital painting like no other book I have seen. From the simple to the fantastic, from the interesting to the fascinating this book covers it. It is also one of the few books around that talks about Corel Painter which is the worlds best natural media painting program.

Chapters:

Chapter 1: Concept
Chapter 2: Important Considerations Before You Begin
Chapter 3: Inspiration
Chapter 4: Painting in Photoshop with your Photos
Chapter 5: Painting in Painter
Chapter 6: Assembling a Collage in Photoshop
Chapter 7: Assembling a Collage in Painter
Chapter 8: The Paradox: The Absolute Truth and the Exquisite Lie -- Creating a Panorama in Photoshop
Chapter 9: Filters
Chapter 10: Experimentation
Chapter 11: Projects for You
Chapter 12: Essential Photoshop and Painter Techniques
Chapter 13: Resources

Digital Collage and Painting covers both Photoshop and Painter nearly equally. Combining the power of both programs with a little bit of skill and creativity can't help but give you incredible results.

With tons of samples the book not only teaches but inspires as well. I also really like chapter 11 "Projects for You" This gives you several different projects to start off with. By the time you are done with these you will not only have created your first collages you will be well on your way to developing your collage and painting skills. From then on it is simply about letting your creativity flow and having fun.

This is an excellent book, it covers two fun, useful and interesting programs all in the context of collage, what fun! It is easy to read, easy to understand and is the only book on Collage and Painting that goes in to this much depth. A must have for any digital artist.

* The sample collage took me less than 15 minutes to do. I simply used a digital camera photo. For the leaves I went for a walk last fall looking for nicely colored fall leaves. I pickup a nice selection, and then scanned them on my flatbed scanner, masked them out in Photoshop, adjusted their color and here I used them as an edge adjusting rotation. You can also adjust their sizes, colors, etc.